New heads for state media

THE National Media Commission (NMC) has appointed chief executives for the state-owned media organisations in line with constitutional provisions. The appointments take effect from September 15.

A statement issued by the commission and signed by Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, Executive Secretary, in Accra yesterday named them as Mr Berifi Afari Apenteng, Graphic Communications Group Limited; Mr Seth Ago Adjetey, Director-General, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Nanabanyin Pratt, Managing Director, New Times Corporation and Mr Robert Kafui Johnson, General Manager, Ghana News Agency (GNA).

Mr Apenteng was born on November 30, 1952 and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History/Archaelogy from the University of Ghana, Legon (1974); Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the same university (1976) and Barrister at Law from the Ghana School of Law (1981).

Currently Senior General Manager of Gama Films Company and Senior Manager of TV3 Network, Mr Apenteng joined the GBC as a Senior Reporter in 1976.

He rose through the ranks to become Deputy Director of Television and Director of Radio before resigning to join TV3 Network late in August 1997.

Between 1982-87, he was a part-time tutor of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) and the School of Communication Studies and was a member of the National Media Commission from 1993-96, the Advisory Board for the Centre of International Communication and Consultant of the Strategic Communications Limited.

He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Graphic Communications Group. He is also a member of the Ghana Journalists Association, Ghana Bar Association and International Institute of Communications.

Mr Adjetey, a chartered accountant, born on April 4, 1945, holds BSc Administration (1971) from the University of Ghana and an ACCA (1977) from the School of Accountancy and Applied Economics, Leeds Polytechnic, UK. He also holds the final certificate of the ACCA (1979) qualification. He is currently the managing partner of Accounting Associates.

Before joining Accounting Associates, he was a Junior Partner at E. O. Mensah & Co (Chartered Accountants) from 1989 - 1991.

Mr Adjetey joined the former Tema Food Complex Corporation in April 1978 as Cost Accountant and rose through the ranks to become acting Managing Director from 1983 to 1987.

He also worked as Cost Accountant at Metal Box Limited, Shipley - Bradford, UK, from April 1978 to March 1980; the State Hotels Corporation, first as assistant accountant and later as accountant between 1971 and 1974.

He, however, started his working career at the Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation from July to September 1971 as Assistant Accountants Manager.

Mr Adjetey had acted as consultant for the Bank of Ghana on the World Bank Rural Banks Restructuring Programme as well as USAID and the European Union Micro-projects and has since 1972 served on the board of a number of public organisations.

Mr Nanabanyin Pratt, born on October 26, 1956, is the Senior Administrative Manager of the Ghana National Procurement Agency (GNPA).

He joined the GNPA in 1984 as the Public Relations Manager. He was first employed at the GIJ from 1979 to 1984 as lecturer and later promoted as senior lecturer.

Mr Pratt graduated from the University of Ghana in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts (Modern History with English) and later in 1981, a post graduate diploma in Journalism and Communications.

In 1992, he obtained a Master of Arts (International Relations and Strategic Studies) from the Lancaster University, Untied Kingdom.

Currently, Mr Pratt is a member of the Loan Review Committee of the Women's World Bank Ghana Limited and a member of the Finance and Administration Sub-Committee of the Women's World Banking.

Mr Pratt was a member of the National Media Commission from 1993 to 1996 and served on the Complaints Settlement Committee and was the President of the Institute of Public Relations from 1995 to 2000.

Mr Johnson was born on October 22, 1955 and holds a Master of Administration degree (1997) from the University of Ghana, Legon.

In 1979, he graduated from the same university with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with Sociology.

Mr Johnson joined the Volta River Authority as Information Officer in 1984. He became Manager, Corporate Communications in 1990, a positions he occupies to date.

He had previously worked as Editor with the Ghana Publishing Corporation, Tema, from 1983 to 1984 and Les Shiryden Printers, Ibadan, Nigeria from 1982 to 1983.

After his two years National Service at the Ghanatta Secondary School, Dodowa, he was employed at the Tema Secondary School from 1981 to 1982 as a tutor.

Between 1983 and now, Mr Johnson worked on part-time basis for a number of organisations.